A material tracking method and system

Abstract

The present application discloses a material tracking method, which includes putting materials with pre - processing material identifiers into a carrying device with a carrying identifier, and storing the corresponding relationship between the pre - processing material identifiers and the carrying identifier; after processing the materials, taking out the carrying device containing the processed materials; identifying the carrying identifier of the carrying device; using the corresponding relationship between the pre - processing material identifiers and the carrying identifier to determine the pre - processing material identifier corresponding to the carrying identifier, and generating a processed material identifier using the pre - processing material identifier; rebinding the processed material identifier with the processed materials to realize the tracking of the materials, which can achieve the continuous connection of the material information chain of batch materials in high - temperature, oil - stained and corrosive environments, avoid the problem of material information chaos caused by manual tracking, and ensure the automatic tracking of the material information in the whole process. The present application also discloses a material tracking system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of material tracking, and particularly relates to a material tracking method and system. Background Art

[0002] In the production process of metal processing, especially aluminum processing products, due to multiple processes, changes in material states, different production environments and storage methods, it is difficult to automatically track material information throughout the process.

[0003] Taking the processing of aluminum sheet and strip as an example, at present, the tracking of aluminum coil materials mostly adopts a method combining flat warehouses, stereoscopic warehouses and identification card tracking. This method solves the problem of aluminum coil tracking in most processes. However, when multiple aluminum coils are heat-treated simultaneously, the material identification cards of the aluminum coils cannot adapt to environments such as high temperature, oil stain and corrosion. After the heat treatment process is completed, it is necessary to manually track and identify the identification cards. That is to say, relying on manual methods to check and distinguish multiple aluminum coils and then supplement the material identification cards, sometimes problems such as material identification confusion and disconnection of the material information chain will occur, which will affect the traceability of production quality and the timely feedback of production progress. On the other hand, for batch-produced aluminum bars, profiles and pipes, the same material tracking problems will also be encountered during heat treatment processing. The material tracking in the heat treatment process is a common problem for realizing full-process automatic tracking in aluminum processing at present, which further affects the construction of an intelligent factory for aluminum processing. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a material tracking method and system, which can realize that the material information chain of batch materials is not disconnected in high-temperature, oil stain and corrosion environments, avoid the problem of material information confusion caused by manual tracking, and ensure the automatic tracking of material information throughout the process.

[0005] A material tracking method provided by the present invention includes:

[0006] Put the material with the pre-treatment material identification into a carrying device with a carrying identification, and store the corresponding relationship between the pre-treatment material identification and the carrying identification;

[0007] After the material is processed, take out the carrying device containing the processed material;

[0008] Identify the carrying identification of the carrying device;

[0009] Using the corresponding relationship between the pre-treatment material identification and the carrying identification, determine the pre-treatment material identification corresponding to the carrying identification, and generate a post-treatment material identification using the pre-treatment material identification;

[0010] Bind the post-treatment material identification to the processed material again to realize the tracking of the material.

[0011] Preferably, in the above material tracking method, after the tracking of the material is achieved, it also includes:

[0012] The correspondence between the material identification before processing of the material and the carrying identification is cancelled.

[0013] Preferably, in the above material tracking method, it also includes:

[0014] The bearing identification after the correspondence is released is re-established the correspondence with the material identification of other materials before processing.

[0015] Preferably, in the above material tracking method, before placing the material with the pre-processing material identification into the carrying device with the carrying identification, it also includes:

[0016] The bearing mark is installed on the bearing device.

[0017] The present invention provides a material tracking system, comprising a pre-processing material identification set on the material, a carrying device with a carrying identification for carrying the material, an identification recognition device and a material tracking device, wherein the identification recognition device is used to identify the carrying identification and the corresponding pre-processing material identification, and the material tracking device is used to store the corresponding relationship between the pre-processing material identification and the carrying identification, and the identification recognition device is also used to identify the carrying identification of the carrying device after the material is processed, and the material tracking device is also used to use the corresponding relationship between the pre-processing material identification and the carrying identification to determine the pre-processing material identification corresponding to the carrying identification, use the pre-processing material identification to generate a post-processing material identification, and bind the post-processing material identification to the processed material again to achieve tracking of the material.

[0018] Preferably, in the above-mentioned material tracking system, the carrying identifier is a barcode or a QR code.

[0019] Preferably, in the above-mentioned material tracking system, the carrying device is a material rack or a vehicle.

[0020] Preferably, in the above-mentioned material tracking system, the bearing mark is a high temperature resistant and corrosion resistant metal sheet mark.

[0021] Preferably, in the above-mentioned material tracking system, the identification recognition device is a barcode scanning device or a QR code scanning device.

[0022] Preferably, in the above-mentioned material tracking system, the material tracking device also has a wireless communication component for performing data communication with a PDA system, a production management system or an intelligent warehouse system.

[0023] As can be seen from the above description, in the material tracking method provided by the present invention, since it includes putting the material with the pre-treatment material identification into the carrying device with the carrying identification, storing the corresponding relationship between the pre-treatment material identification and the carrying identification; after processing the material, taking out the carrying device containing the processed material; identifying the carrying identification of the carrying device; using the corresponding relationship between the pre-treatment material identification and the carrying identification to determine the pre-treatment material identification corresponding to the carrying identification, and generating the processed material identification by using the pre-treatment material identification; binding the processed material identification to the processed material again to realize the tracking of the material. It can be seen that even if the processed material identification disappears after processing, a new material identification can be formed to ensure that the material can be traced, so that the material information chain of batch materials can be continuously maintained in high-temperature, oil-polluted and corrosive environments, avoiding the problem of material information chaos caused by manual tracking and ensuring the automatic tracking of the whole-process material information. The above material tracking system provided by the present invention has the same advantages as the above material tracking method. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only the embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained according to the provided drawings.

[0025] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an embodiment of a material tracking method provided by the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 Schematic diagram before the material is put into the carrying device;

[0027] Figure 3 Schematic diagram after the material is put into the carrying device;

[0028] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the corresponding relationship between the material identification and the carrying identification;

[0029] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the material tracking process of a specific heat treatment process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0030] The core of the present invention is to provide a material tracking method and system, which can realize the continuous connection of the material information chain of batch materials in high-temperature, oil-polluted and corrosive environments, avoid the problem of material information chaos caused by manual tracking, and ensure the automatic tracking of the whole-process material information.

[0031] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0032] An embodiment of a material tracking method provided by the present invention is as follows Figure 1 shown Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a material tracking method provided by the present invention. The method may include the following steps:

[0033] S1: Put the material with the pre - processing material identification into the carrying device with the carrying identification, and store the corresponding relationship between the pre - processing material identification and the carrying identification;

[0034] Refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 is a schematic diagram before the material is put into the carrying device, which includes material 1 with material identification 101 on it, and also includes carrying device 2 with carrying identification 201 on it, and also includes identification recognition device 3 and material tracking device 4. Among them, a unique material identification 101 is set on each material 1 to identify the material and ensure traceability throughout the process. And the carrying identification 201 on the carrying device 2 must also be unique. Before the start of each process, first put the materials 1 into the carrying device 2 respectively, as Figure 3 shown Figure 3 is a schematic diagram after the material is put into the carrying device. At this time, the identification recognition device 3 can be used to identify the carrying identification 201 on the carrying device 2, and then identify the material identification 101 of the material 1 carried in the carrying device 2, and store the correspondence between these two identifications in the material tracking device 4 for subsequent use. Then, identify other carrying devices and the materials inside them one by one, so as to obtain the corresponding relationship between all material identifications and carrying identifications. This corresponding relationship can be referred to Figure 4 , Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the corresponding relationship between the material identification and the carrying identification.

[0035] S2: After the material is processed, take out the carrying device containing the processed material;

[0036] The processing mentioned here can be a heat treatment process including preheating and annealing, using a medium-temperature annealing furnace or a bell-type furnace, but it is not limited to the heat treatment process. The material can be an aluminum foil roll, but it is not limited to this. Generally, after the heat treatment of an aluminum foil roll, the material identification on it may disappear due to heat, resulting in the disconnection of the traceability chain. However, by using the method of this embodiment, this problem can be avoided. After the processing is completed, the loading device containing the material is taken out.

[0037] S3: Identify the loading identification of the loading device;

[0038] It should be noted that the loading device itself will not melt due to heat like an aluminum foil roll. Therefore, the loading identification on the loading device will not disappear, and thus this loading identification can be identified.

[0039] S4: Use the correspondence between the material identification before processing and the loading identification to determine the material identification before processing corresponding to the loading identification, and generate the material identification after processing using the material identification before processing;

[0040] In this step, the material identification before processing of the material loaded in the loading device can be obtained, so as to obtain a new material identification after processing that can be traced.

[0041] S5: Rebind the material identification after processing with the material after processing to achieve the tracking of the material.

[0042] Specifically, the obtained new material identification after processing can be pasted on the material after processing, so that the material can be traced.

[0043] Generally speaking, the above embodiment uses the loading identification on the loading device to achieve the tracking of material information. That is, each material to be processed is attached with a material identification. When the material is placed on the loading device, the identification recognition device first scans the material identification before processing on each material, and then correspondingly scans the loading identification on the loading device, so as to establish the information correspondence between each loading device and each material stored therein, and perform associated binding. After the processing is completed, each loading identification is scanned again, and the material tracking device automatically queries each material information, generates or identifies the material identification after processing and provides it to the corresponding material, completing the tracking of batch material information.

[0044] From the above description, it can be seen that in the embodiment of the above-mentioned material tracking method provided by the present invention, since it includes placing the material with the pre-processing material identification into a carrying device with a carrying identification, storing the correspondence between the pre-processing material identification and the carrying identification; after processing the material, taking out the carrying device with the processed material; identifying the carrying identification of the carrying device; using the correspondence between the pre-processing material identification and the carrying identification, determining the pre-processing material identification corresponding to the carrying identification, and generating the post-processing material identification using the pre-processing material identification; binding the post-processing material identification with the processed material again to realize the tracking of the material. It can be seen that even if the material identification disappears after processing, a new material identification can be formed to ensure that the material can be traced, thereby realizing the unbroken material information chain of batch materials in high temperature, oily and corrosive environments, avoiding the problem of material information confusion caused by manual tracking, and ensuring automatic tracking of material information throughout the entire process.

[0045] In a specific embodiment of the material tracking method, after the material tracking is achieved, the following steps may also be included:

[0046] The correspondence between the material identification before the material is processed and the carrying identification is cancelled. In addition, the carrying identification after the correspondence is cancelled can also be determined to correspond to the material identification before the material is processed of other materials again.

[0047] That is to say, after completing the batch material information tracking, the carrier identification information can be untied so that the carrier device can be used to load other materials, thereby achieving the purpose of binding the carrier identification on it with other pre-processing material identifications, thereby realizing the recycling of the carrier device.

[0048] In another specific embodiment of the material tracking method, before placing the material with the pre-processing material identification into the carrying device with the carrying identification, the following steps may be further included:

[0049] The carrying mark is installed on the carrying device. Specifically, the carrying device can generally be a material rack or an aluminum coil bottom tray, which can hold multiple aluminum coils and can enter the heat treatment furnace with the material coils until the material coils are taken out of the furnace after the heat treatment. Multiple marks are installed on this carrying device, such as a high-temperature resistant metal sheet marked with a barcode, which is fixed on the carrier and can be used repeatedly. The number of marks is determined by the aluminum foil coils that can be placed on the carrier.

[0050] An embodiment of a material tracking system provided by the present invention can be further referred to Figure 2, the system includes a pre - processing material identifier 101 set on the material 1, a carrying device 2 for carrying the material 1 with a carrying identifier 201, an identifier recognition device 3, and a material tracking device 4. Among them, the identifier recognition device 3 is used to recognize the carrying identifier 201 and the corresponding pre - processing material identifier 101. The material tracking device 4 is used to store the correspondence between the pre - processing material identifier 101 and the carrying identifier 201. The identifier recognition device 3 is also used to recognize the carrying identifier 201 of the carrying device 2 after processing the material. The material tracking device 4 is also used to use the correspondence between the pre - processing material identifier 101 and the carrying identifier 201 to determine the pre - processing material identifier 101 corresponding to the carrying identifier 201, generate a post - processing material identifier using the pre - processing material identifier 101, and rebind the post - processing material identifier to the processed material to realize the tracking of the material.

[0051] In a specific embodiment of the above - mentioned material tracking system, the carrying identifier can be a bar code or a two - dimensional code. The carrying device can preferably be a rack or a vehicle. The carrying identifier can preferably be a high - temperature - resistant and corrosion - resistant metal sheet identifier, which can be selected according to actual environmental needs. For example, in a high - temperature environment, a high - temperature - resistant identifier should be selected, and in a corrosive environment, a corrosion - resistant identifier should be selected. The number of identifiers should correspond to the number of carrying devices to ensure that the materials on each carrying device can be traced. In this case, the rack or AGV cart is used to carry the materials, and a bar code or a two - dimensional code is fixed on the rack or AGV cart, which can be recycled and will not be damaged by heat or corrosion. Of course, other types of codes, such as RFID, etc., can also be selected according to actual needs, and there is no limitation here. In addition, the above - mentioned pre - processing material identifier and post - processing material identifier can be a paper bar code or two - dimensional code, or an RFID electronic chip, which can be pasted on the surface of the material or made into a sign and hung on the material.

[0052] Moreover, the identifier recognition device can preferably be a bar code scanning device or a two - dimensional code scanning device. In addition, the material tracking device can preferably have a wireless communication component for data communication with the PDA system, the production management system, or the intelligent warehouse system. A database table can be established in the material tracking device to store material information and perform the association and binding of the material identifier and the carrying identifier for index query and record. And after the material is processed and the post - processing material identifier is generated, the two are unbound, and the carrying identifier can be associated with the material identifier of the next batch of materials. It should also be noted that in this case, the material tracking device and the identifier recognition device can be integrally set, which is more convenient for identifier recognition and tracking. Of course, the split - type can also be selected according to actual needs, and the material tracking device can be set in a computer, and there is no limitation here.

[0053] The following uses a specific example to illustrate the above - mentioned embodiment:

[0054] Reference Figure 5 , Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the material tracking process for a specific heat treatment process. Taking the aluminum sheet and strip processing industry as an example, it includes a carrier identification 501, an electronic identification device 502, a material tracking system 503, and a material identification 504. The material to be tracked here is an aluminum foil coil. The material identification generally uses a bar code or two-dimensional code made of paper material pasted on the surface of the material, or an RFID electronic chip, which is made into a sign with a magnet and hung on the steel sleeve of the aluminum foil coil. Sometimes, in order to facilitate manual auxiliary search for the coil, the information of the material identification generally includes, in addition to the above bar code, two-dimensional code or RFID, common information such as alloy number, coil number, thickness, and width, which is displayed in a card, as shown in Figure 4 the material identification information shown. The carrier generally has a rack or an aluminum coil bottom cushion plate, which can hold multiple aluminum coils and can enter the heat treatment furnace with the coils until it comes out of the furnace with the coils after the heat treatment is completed. Multiple identifications are installed on this carrier, such as high-temperature resistant metal sheets marked with bar codes, which are fixed on the carrier and can be used repeatedly. The number of identifications is determined according to the number of aluminum foil coils that can be placed on the carrier. The carrier identification information can also be as shown in Figure 4 . The electronic identification device used to identify the material identification and the carrier identification generally uses a wireless PDA device. The PDA can identify the corresponding information by scanning the above identifications and transmit it to the material tracking system wirelessly. The material tracking system, as a functional module of a production management system such as MES, stores the production material information of the aluminum foil coils to be produced and already produced. At the same time, the MES system has a wireless communication function and is connected to the PDA. The heat treatment process of aluminum sheet and strip generally includes preheating and annealing. In this example, annealing is involved, and generally, equipment such as a medium annealing furnace or a bell-type furnace can be used. The aluminum foil coil in this example enters the annealing process for production after the cleaning process is completed. The material information is tracked through the above various devices. First, as shown in Figure 2 , each aluminum foil coil in the waiting area has material identification information such as a two-dimensional code. The overhead crane or AGV cart transports multiple aluminum foil coils to the workstations on the rack. Then, the electronic identification device such as a wireless PDA first scans the two-dimensional code of each aluminum foil coil on the rack, and then correspondingly scans the carrier identification such as the bar code of this workstation. After confirmation, the two identification information is wirelessly sent to the material tracking system of the MES system. This material tracking system performs the association and binding of the material information, as shown in Figure 4 the material information table shown. In this way, the association relationship between the above two identifications is established. After that, the rack carrying the aluminum foil coil is heated and annealed in the annealing furnace, and the material identification of the aluminum foil coil disappears due to heat. After the annealing is completed, the aluminum foil coil cools to room temperature, as shown in Figure 3As shown, each carrier identification on the rack, such as a barcode, is scanned by an electronic identification device such as a wireless PDA. After determination, this identification information is wirelessly sent to the material tracking system of the MES system. This system automatically queries the material information bound to the carrier identification, and generates a new material identification for the aluminum foil roll, such as a QR code or RFID, as needed for use in subsequent production process material tracking. After completing the batch material information tracking, the material tracking system unbinds the carrier identification information, and this carrier identification can be re-associated with aluminum foil rolls of other batches and used repeatedly.

[0055] In summary, the above embodiments solve the problem that in the heat treatment process of batch materials in the metal processing industry, due to high temperature, it is difficult to preserve the material identification, resulting in the interruption of tracking information and the information landing, and sometimes manual intervention causes confusion in the material information, ensuring the automatic tracking of the material information throughout the process. It should be noted that the above material tracking method is a process of continuously associating, binding, and unbinding the material and carrier identification information. This method can be based on batches and sometimes refined to individual items, and is applicable to binding multiple carriers to the same batch of materials, or one carrier associating with multiple batches (such as materials stacked on a pallet and different batches of materials are identified in the first-in, last-out manner), and this is applicable to the material tracking of bars, pipes, or profiles.

[0056] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to these embodiments shown herein, but rather will be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A material tracking method, characterized in that, include: Installing a load-bearing mark on the load-bearing device, wherein the load-bearing mark is a high-temperature resistant metal sheet; Putting the material with the material identification before processing into the carrying device with the carrying identification, and using the material tracking device to store the corresponding relationship between the material identification before processing and the carrying identification; After the material is processed, the carrier device containing the processed material is taken out, wherein the processing is a heat treatment process including preheating and annealing; Identify the bearing mark of the bearing device; Using the correspondence between the pre-processing material identification and the carrier identification, determine the pre-processing material identification corresponding to the carrier identification, and use the pre-processing material identification to generate a new post-processing material identification that can be traced; The processed material identification is bound to the processed material again to achieve tracking of the material.

2. The material tracking method according to claim 1, wherein When the tracking of the materials is realized, it also includes: The correspondence between the material identification before processing of the material and the carrying identification is cancelled.

3. The material tracking method according to claim 2, wherein Also includes: The bearing identification after the correspondence is released is re-established the correspondence with the material identification of other materials before processing.

4. A material tracking system, characterized in that, It comprises a pre-processing material identification set on the material, a carrying device with a carrying identification for carrying the material, an identification recognition device and a material tracking device, wherein the identification recognition device is used to recognize the carrying identification and the corresponding pre-processing material identification, the material tracking device is used to store the corresponding relationship between the pre-processing material identification and the carrying identification, the identification recognition device is also used to recognize the carrying identification of the carrying device after the material is processed, and the material tracking device is also used to use the corresponding relationship between the pre-processing material identification and the carrying identification to determine the pre-processing material identification corresponding to the carrying identification, use the pre-processing material identification to generate a new post-processing material identification that can be traced, and bind the post-processing material identification to the processed material again to achieve tracking of the material; The bearing mark is a high temperature and corrosion resistant metal sheet mark; The treatment is a heat treatment process including preheating and annealing.

5. The material tracking system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The bearer identifier is a barcode or a QR code.

6. The material tracking system according to claim 4, characterized in that The carrying device is a material rack or a vehicle.

7. The material tracking system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The identification recognition device is a barcode scanning device or a two-dimensional code scanning device.

8. The material tracking system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The material tracking device also has a wireless communication component for performing data communication with a PDA system, a production management system or an intelligent warehouse system.

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